


and if it keeps on raining (i might float away)

by kimwonpil



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dreams, Empath, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kim Hongjoong is Whipped, M/M, Mutant Powers, Mutants, Psychic Abilities, Soft Jeong Yunho, Team as Family, Temporary Character Death, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23899330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimwonpil/pseuds/kimwonpil
Summary: yunho could feel the rain as if it was real, the storm like it was beating down upon his back and the screams were unbearably loud. it was real, it was all too real.but then he woke up.that day was only the beginning, a school for mutants could never be without chaos. there were eight boys who only hoped they could make it through the year unscathed.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Song Mingi, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang/Park Seonghwa, Jeong Yunho/Kim Hongjoong
Comments: 15
Kudos: 53





	1. yunho

**Author's Note:**

> hello folks! i churned this out in a day on a whim. it's my first time posting something for ateez so i'm a little worried, i hope it's okay.
> 
> i hope everyone stays safe and healthy this week! remember to drink water!!
> 
> (title is from raining from rocky the musical)

“I dreamt about us last night.”

Hongjoong smiles for a moment, his heart warm as he thought about what Yunho's dream may have entailed. Would they have been on a date? Going on some adventure in a faraway land? Or-

_ Oh. _

“Oh, I see.” Is all Hongjoong can whisper when he realises, when he understands what that means.

“How long do we have then?”

“I don't know hyung, normally I wake up after dreams but this time I didn't, it kind of just drifted away.” Yunho said with a sigh, still not daring to roll onto his side and face Hongjoong, because in doing so he would be acknowledging what was going to happen, sealing his fate and his lover's.

Instead, Yunho pushed himself up and out of the bed, trodding away to the small bathroom attached to their dorm, careful not to wake any of the other six boys on his way. When he had joined the school, this room was a place of comfort, he could cry and feel and just exist without being labelled a monster by those who did not understand.

For Yunho's mutation was not like the others were, it wasn't beautiful like Seonghwa's, who could make snow fall and breaths mingle in cold breezes. It wasn't magnificent like Wooyoung and San's, whose entwined mutations could create illusions and manipulate reality. It wasn't subtle like Yeosang's, where others would call him a polyglot, a fake, Yunho knew that his vast knowledge and fluency of any language he heard was more than a party trick. It wasn't hilarious like Jongho's nor Mingi's either, they could make people laugh for hours, joking around as they challenged each other to high speed races around campus, running around or in the air.

And it certainly wasn't as simple and as warming as Hongjoong's. His soulmate. The one who could read him inside out. Hongjoong's mutation was that of an empath, he could read emotions and feelings in depths that no one else could, able to peel back layer after layer of anyone's mind if he so wished. Most of the time his mutation lay simmering, able to pick up surface level emotions; but when he saw someone struggling, he wouldn't hesitate to step in and help.

No. Yunho's mutation was more of an eternal burden.

Premonition.

At first, he hadn't even noticed. The dreams were just dreams, no matter how vivid and resonant they were. His mother had always laughed and enjoyed hearing about each of them, Yunho would write down the plots where he could. But when he dreamed of her, wading through water and being pulled down into the murky depths, he had woken up in a cold sweat.

He didn't tell his mum about the dream that day.

She died twenty-four hours later, a freak accident on her way back from her night shift at the hospital.

And even then, Yunho had not made the link, but when three of his classmates appeared in his dreams and were found dead at a hit and run scene a day after, that was when Yunho realised.

This wasn't just a mutation, it was a curse. And Yunho would damn himself to hell before the curse would hurt anyone else he loved.

After that, he had tried to find help, hearing through the grapevine of a school that would take in people like him. He was accepted days later, stumbling across the grounds on a long journey from the bustling city that had once sheltered him. Yunho had learned to control his dreams, try to steer them away from anything fatal and now almost every night was filled with nothing but a deep sleep that held no harbinger of death.

Until today.

Hongjoong knocked on the bathroom door, having followed Yunho when he had stood up, not wanting to leave his boyfriend alone. Not now.

“Yunnie… Can I come in sweetheart?” Hongjoong's voice was loud enough to rouse some of the others in the room, Seonghwa and Jongho being the ones who stirred. They joined Hongjoong by the door, tilting their heads curiously but the man could only brush them off, they would find out what was happening soon enough.

The bathroom door unlocked a second later and Hongjoong made his way inside, finding Yunho curled up on the floor with his head in his hands. Hongjoong felt his heart shatter.

“I'm sorry Joongie… I'm so sorry.” Yunho whispered and cried softly, Hongjoong managing to weasel his way into the small space between his boyfriend and the door and wrapping the tall boy in a hug.

“Don't you dare apologise Jeong Yunho. This is not your fault, you can't control who you dream about and what happens to them all the time. We've got a day left together, right? Let's make it a good one Yunnie.” Hongjoong said with a fond smile on his face, what he wasn't expecting was for Yunho to start crying again, sobbing into the elder's shoulder.

By now, the other boys were all outside the door, listening in and trying to figure out what was happening. Yunho was possibly the strongest of them all and they rarely saw his facade crumble, so something must be very bad.

“Joong, it's breakfast soon, I'll take the younger ones down.” Seonghwa called, waiting for a reply. He got one a moment later, Hongjoong having extracted himself from Yunho and wandering back out again.

“That's alright… You're probably wondering what's happening right?”

“Yeah, is Yunho okay?” Mingi interrupted, eyes wide as he hopped from foot to foot.

“He's fine, for the most part. He uhm… He had a dream last night. I was in it.”

And that was all Hongjoong needed to say, the mood in the room souring with each ticking second. San was the first to move forward, wrapping Hongjoong in a hug, then Yeosang joined him and one by one they all squished the empath in the middle of them.

“Maybe it'll be different this time? Maybe the dream was just a regular dream?” Wooyoung suggested, but his words were quiet and strained, unsure of what he was saying.

“You know it doesn't work like that… I'm just going to spend the day with Yunho, that's more than enough for me.” Hongjoong said as everyone let him go and then Yunho was exiting the bathroom behind him, watching everyone with a guarded expression.

He felt like a monster again.

The silence was unbearable, Yunho pleaded in his head for someone to just say something, to say that they hated him, wanted him out of their sight, wanted-

“Oh Yunho, darling, it's alright…” Seonghwa whispered, once again taking initiative and cuddling up to the tallest boy. “You couldn't have known this was going to happen, we don't blame you, none of us do.” The words dulled down the sharpened edges of the insults that Yunho was hurling at himself, jolting him back into reality as he peered down at Seonghwa.

“You don't hate me?”

“Of course we don't hate you Yunnie…” Yeosang whispered, tears building in his own eyes as he watched everything play out.

Another bell rang out in the hallway, the last breakfast call and Seonghwa began to usher everyone out until only Hongjoong and Yunho were left in the room once more.

“So, I say we steal some food from the kitchens and then go to the roof for a picnic and then stargazing later.”

The roof.

_ It was dark, stars covered by thick layers of cloud, fat raindrops splashing down on Hongjoong's face. He was laughing, running around on the roof of the school with childlike wonder, hands thrown up into the air. _

_ He was free, he was happy, he was… He was too close to the edge. Yunho tried to shout, tried to stop Hongjoong from falling but the edge was practically slipping away from the elder's footing and then he screamed. _

_ Yunho's vision faded to black, the sound of Hongjoong's cries for help still ringing in his ears. _

“Yeah… The roof is fine.” He replied, trying not to showcase his worry, even though it was useless. His boyfriend was an empath after all.

“Yunnie, baby, I can feel your nerves. Don't worry about me, let's enjoy the time we've got.” Hongjoong whispered and took Yunho's hand, swinging them as they walked down the hallways, still clad in pyjamas. The kitchens weren't far away and the pair were well acquainted with the cooks who often let them nab snacks. It was a perk of being a supposedly cute couple, the cooks would tell them with knowing grins on their faces.

Today they managed to take some cheese sandwiches and cupcakes, as well as two cans of lemonade. It wasn't much, Yunho thought that his boyfriend deserved better, but time wasn't on their side right now and he would take what he could get.

Going to the roof was a stealth mission, Seonghwa always said that they didn't need to be so sneaky but that was just part of the fun. The school became more aged as they ascended, going past the last of the dorms and up into the eaves, passing attics and storage rooms that looked too haunted to explore. When they emerged through the small trap door, Hongjoong rushed to their spot, smile bright and face glowing in the sun.

Yunho let himself laugh for the first time that day at the sight, Hongjoong's tough guy image melting away as he waved over his boyfriend with an unadulterated grin.

They'd first come up here almost half a decade ago, now the space was like a safe haven for them. There was a tiny nook at the corner of the roof, the one that got the most sunshine all year round; Hongjoong and Yunho had placed down blankets one day and now that was their spot.

So for hours they sat. The pair had much to discuss, each conversation melting into the next and bringing about words dripping with nostalgia. They ate the food at around midday, Hongjoong laughing boisterously at the amount of icing that failed to make it into Yunho's mouth and instead got smeared across his cheeks.

And that was when they kissed, Hongjoong smiling against Yunho's lips as he brought up a napkin to attack his boyfriend with. They dissolved into tickle fights and endless giggles after that; the sun had started to go down by the time they were both tired out.

“When you first arrived, and I learnt about your mutation… I felt something. I think I knew this day was coming Yunnie, right from the very beginning.” Hongjoong said out of the blue, looking up at the dimming sky, hand entwined with Yunho's.

Yunho didn't reply, couldn't, not without feeling the pressure build up in his head and the tears gather in his eyes.

“So don't blame yourself sweetheart, you're the light of my life Yunnie, you always have been and you always will be, no matter what happens.” Hongjoong's voice cracked and Yunho gasped in response, squeezing the elder's hand as he turned over to look at him.

“You're the reason I get up in the morning, your smile is so bright, it made me so happy.” Hongjoong started crying and Yunho soon followed, bringing the elder into a tight embrace as the rain started to pour above them.

Oh god, the  _ rain _ .

“I don't want you to go… I don't even know how-”

“Don't think about it Yunho, just focus on right now, okay?”

Yunho grew desperate, emotions growing stronger and more powerful as he surged forward and kissed Hongjoong again. He could taste the saltiness of their tears and the rain seemed to fall harder, it was all too much but not enough.

He couldn't let Hongjoong go, he wouldn't lose him.

But time wasn't on their side, no matter how many kisses they shared or how many whispers they exchanged, time would not stop nor slow.

“I love you Joongie…”

“I love you too Yunnie.” Hongjoong smiled, face and body drenched under the downpour as they sat up. “It's nearly time.” He whispered, looking down at Yunho and running his hand through the younger's hair.

Yunho was about to speak, to declare his love yet again, when the inevitable happened. 

It all went by so fast, Hongjoong stood up, holding out his hand for Yunho when his heel scuffed the floor, sending him flying backwards. Yunho screamed, curses leaving his lips as he tried to reach out, to grab Hongjoong before it was too late.

A moment, a small second, was all it took for Hongjoong to lose his balance, falling over the edge of the rooftop and hurtling towards the ground.

“Hongjoong!” Yunho cried, his dream faltering, it was never Hongjoong that shouted, it was only ever himself. 

Yunho sank to his knees, tears becoming one with the rain until there was no telling which was which anymore, wailing being lost to the cries below.

“It's all my fault… It's my fault he's gone, it's me…” Yunho continued to ramble as he staggered downstairs, pushing past students that didn't have a clue what was happening. He ran into Seonghwa without realising, the elder calling his name but he didn't listen. 

Outside was mayhem, a rush of bodies all clambering to see what had happened but Yunho seemed to repel them all, everyone parting as he sunk to his knees in front of Hongjoong. He couldn't see the state of his boyfriend through his tears, but his limbs were crumpled wrong and there was so much blood.

Yunho sobbed brokenly, a teacher trying to move him back but he screamed at them to leave him alone. He'd caused this, he was going to fix it.

“It's not fair… I-I can't let you go Joongie, I can't. You've always helped me, I'm going to help you Joong, don't give up now, please.” Yunho rambled, cupping Hongjoong's face as he shivered; he didn't see the person's hand this time, grabbing his wrist and dragging him to his feet.

Yunho let out wheezing cries, struggling and writhing in the arms of whoever had taken him away. At one particularly hard tug, Yunho was sent crashing to the floor again, head colliding with the stone floor.

Everything went black.

_ There was rain, so much rain. Yunho felt as if he was drowning, sinking beneath metres of cold water that was thick and clung to his skin like leeches. _

_ “Yunho! Yunho help me!” Came a scream, something about it sounded final. And that's when Yunho saw his hand, felt the relentless tugging and desperate movement from below him, somewhere in the void. _

_ It was Hongjoong, it had to be. _

_ Yunho's breath stayed trapped in his throat, heaving up the body as the rain continued on. He couldn't let go, no matter how wet and slippy his hands got. He couldn't. _

_ When Hongjoong's body collided with the roof once more, this time, Yunho saw something else. _

_ Light. _

“He's waking up!” A shrill voice cut through the nothingness Yunho was trapped in, jolting him up into reality as his arms scrambled around until his vision started to come back into focus. The boy began to panic as he looked around the sea of colours, trying to spy Hongjoong amongst them as more muffled voices joined in the cacophony of noise thrumming against his ear drums.

“Wooyoung stop being so loud, you're gonna scare him.” Came a disgruntled tone from his bedside, Yunho could recognise it anywhere by now.

“Joongie…” He breathed out, eyes glassing over with tears now instead as he turned to look at his boyfriend who stood there, completely unscathed, safe and well.

“You really scared me there Yunnie… We were on the roof and then suddenly you disappeared and someone found you on the stone path in the garden below. Thankfully you weren't seriously hurt, just concussed.” Hongjoong explained but Yunho wasn't really listening because his partner was right there, his boyfriend, he was alive. Somehow, Yunho had changed it all.

But questions of just how he had done it could wait as he catapulted himself into Hongjoong's arms, beaming smile on his face. They were more than okay now, Hongjoong wasn't going anywhere.

Dreams no longer scared him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's my twitter :D : [@acepiri](https://twitter.com/acepiri)  
> 


	2. hongjoong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was in a series format but with the way all of the chapters began to line up and interconnect i decided it was better off like this!! i hope everyone enjoys hongjoong's story, it's pretty much a follow up to yunho's because we all love hohong in this household :') !!
> 
> i hope everyone stays safe and healthy and has a good weekend!!
> 
> (note - 18th january 2021: i was originally going to make this a fic for all 8 ateez members, but i kind of burnt out before i could finish it, so i marked it as complete with only hohong ^•^)

Hongjoong always hated science. It was, ultimately, a useless subject in his opinion. There was nothing much to be gained learning about atoms or elements or states of matter - whatever the heck those were. No. Hongjoong much preferred the dramatics of the arts, looking into one's innermost emotions and desires through prose or music, he loved how he got to see the world in a different light.

But his first class on every dreary Monday morning was Chemistry, Hongjoong could quite literally scream in annoyance. Yunho had been on the receiving end of his rants many a time, complaining about how boring this period was and how he wished it would just not exist altogether. Who even wanted to be awake at 8:30am anyway? He'd much rather be snuggling in bed with his boyfriend than trying to pay attention to his drawling professor.

“-and so today we will be doing some work on how these stars come to form in our skies, and how we see them even though they are billions of light years away. I want you all to flip to pages 205 to 207 of your textbooks and complete the questions at the end by the time class has finished.” Hongjoong shook himself awake as everyone around him started to move about, beginning the task at hand as he tried his best to keep up.

Stars. Hongjoong supposed they were interesting but he was much more interested in astrology than astronomy; Yunho quite enjoyed telling him his horoscope everyday, giggling over whether it would come true or not.

“Joong, what the heck are you doing?” Seonghwa laughed from beside him, watching as his best friend stared off into space, it only served to make the younger of the pair whine in frustration, practically slamming his head down onto the desk.

“I don’t understand what we’re doing Hwa…”

“Good job I was paying attention then, get up you grump.” Seonghwa giggled and started to help his best friend with the task at hand, directing him through each question and explaining the concepts as best as he could for not even 9am in the morning. The weather outside was bleak and grey, Hongjoong could only wonder how Yunho’s lie in was going, the younger didn’t have to be awake until an hour later on Mondays. Lucky bastard.

When the end of the class rolled around, Hongjoong’s head was full to the brim with red shifts and refractions and other words he didn’t understand at all but had written more times than he could count. Seonghwa could only laugh and haul the younger to his feet, the promise of a proper breakfast and his boyfriend awaiting him. Now that was something Hongjoong could get behind.

The walk to the dining hall was uneventful, save for Mingi running into the eldest pair and tagging along in their search for food. The boy had been doing an early basketball practice in preparation for a game next week with some of the underclassmen, he was sure they were going to win, Seonghwa and Hongjoong promising to come and cheer him on.

Inside the dining hall, however, was a different story, kids as young as four all the way up to twenty-one shouting and chatting as loudly as possible to be heard over the people around them. Hongjoong could confidently predict he was going to get a burst eardrum one of these days. Thankfully, their ragtag group of friends was tucked away in the lone quiet corner of the hall; being some of the eldest students did grant some perks, including ownership of this particular table.

But what made Hongjoong stop short on this particular day was the absence of one person.

“Where’s Yunnie?” He asked the other four who were already sitting down and eating, having gotten some pancakes for the stragglers too.

“Gee, thanks hyung, no good morning for us, I see where your priorities lie.” San snorted, receiving a small hit to their head from Seonghwa in response.

“Fine, good morning kids, where’s my boyfriend?” Hongjoong said dryly, slumping into his seat and leaning against Seonghwa’s shoulder, picking at the syrup-drowned pancake in front of him.

It was no secret that Hongjoong had grown much more protective over his boyfriend after the events of last month, it had well and truly shaken them all but Hongjoong, in particular, was very affected. After his near death experience, everything seemed to go back to normal far too quickly, but something about Yunho had clearly changed, although no one could pinpoint what, not even Hongjoong.

Yunho had said that everything was fine, that he was perfectly okay thank you very much. He couldn’t fool everyone though. The boy seemed to have a habit of refusing to talk about that day, he did, however, talk in his sleep about it at length. Some days, one of the others would stay awake and listen to his ramblings, trying to decipher what was going on, eventually giving up when it turned unintelligible.

“I think I saw him going to the headmaster’s office.” Jongho said softly, breaking through Hongjoong’s inner monologue and the elder quickly rose out of his seat. That wasn’t good.

As much as the headmaster was a great man and everyone looked up to and respected him, being called to his office alone was never a sign of anything good. Hongjoong pushed through the steady stream of students, fighting against the grain to get to his destination. The office was in the oldest part of the school, tucked away in a stone building on the quiet side of campus. Hongjoong could easily sneak up without alerting anyone of his presence, listen in on what was happening and then carry on like he had heard nothing. Was it potentially infringing Yunho’s privacy? Yes, absolutely. But Hongjoong was a worried friend, boyfriend and partner in crime.

Eventually, Hongjoong squatted down by the arched doorway in the blustery cold, pulling his blazer around him as tightly as possible. There were voices, sharp and loud, arguing on the inside of the office. Something inside of Hongjoong still thought that this was wrong, but the empath part of him could hear Yunho’s desperation and upset screaming at him not to go.

“-I’m afraid at this time, I don’t have many answers Yunho. I think it’s safe to say that you discovered a new side to your mutation that we hadn’t foreseen. Because it is so complicated, especially because the mutation lies dormant until you’re asleep, we couldn’t have predicted what had happened.”

“But now I keep having dreams! They’re so normal, what if i’ve lost my power now? What if that was it, some sort of precipice to all of this? Maybe i’m not even a mutant anymore.”

Hongjoong felt his eyes glass over as he slumped down against the door, he was so in tune with the younger’s emotions that his own heart started to hurt at the state Yunho was so obviously in.

“Mr Jeong, I can assure you that you’re still a mutant. Mutant powers cannot suddenly disappear that easily. I’ll call you over if I ever get anymore information on this, but for now you should go and eat and head to class.” And that was the end of that, the headmaster gesturing over to the door with a wave of his hand and Hongjoong quickly scrambled to his feet, moving to get as far away as possible before Yunho caught sight of him.

It didn’t work.

“Joongie? What are you doing over here?” A timid voice called, Yunho’s much larger strides catching up to Hongjoong in no time at all. Instantly the elder could tell that his boyfriend had been crying, gasping as he started to well up too, reaching up to cup Yunho’s face with his hands, not bothering to answer before leaning up to kiss the younger.

When Hongjoong eventually pulled away, his own heart was only hurting more, tears streaming down his face as he took to hugging Yunho instead. Curse being an empath, as much as he loved being able to read Yunho like an open book, he hated feeling his hurt sometimes, especially when it was as great as this.

“Oh my goodness, Joong, it’s okay. Hongjoong… Please stop crying, I’m fine, I’m alright.” He whispered and moved to hug Hongjoong, rubbing his boyfriend's back as he wondered what exactly to say.

“You’re not fine though, you’re not, please don’t lie.” Was all Hongjoong could whisper out in reply, shaking his head frantically. The elder didn’t expect to suddenly be swept off his feet, Yunho scooping him up and carrying him back into a more concealed area, sitting on a small bench in one of the stone alcoves that looked out onto the acres of gardens that the school sat in. Hongjoong was carefully placed next to Yunho but he soon turned to press his face against his boyfriend’s arm, trying to curl around him like a koala. He couldn’t let Yunho leave him, he needed to know he was okay.

“You heard the talk I had with the headmaster, didn’t you?” Yunho said quietly, Hongjoong saw the way he started to nervously fiddle with his fingers, cracking his knuckles which the elder put a stop to quickly, taking Yunho’s hands in his and nodding his head.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry, but I was worried about you, all of us are Yunho. We just want to help and I get that maybe you don’t want to talk about what happened but it feels like you’re keeping stuff from us and we promised we wouldn’t do that.” Hongjoong rambled, brushing away the last few tears from his eyes before reaching up to cup Yunho’s face with his hands, patting his cheeks in an attempt to lighten up the mood just a little.

“You don’t have to apologise, I should be apologising, I did keep things from all of you...” Yunho began, breath catching in his throat a few times before he figured out what to say, a little nervous to continue. “My mutation is acting up and no one will believe me about it. I dream like anyone else would now, I see people in the dreams and then they don’t die the next day. It’s too normal and I don’t know what to do anymore… What if they make me leave Joongie? I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Yunho breathed out exasperatedly, eyes scanning Hongjoong as if he’d suddenly get an answer. He didn’t.

Hongjoong stayed quiet for at least a minute, taking everything in and mulling over his own multitude of thoughts. He didn’t want to say anything wrong, or anything that could get him in trouble, but the elder was furious; Yunho was clearly scared by everything that was going on and their headmaster simply dismissed him without a second thought?

“You won’t go, I won’t let you be kicked out no matter what happens. Maybe your mutation is just acting up? I mean… It is a mutation after all, it can go wrong from time to time and then be alright soon enough. Or maybe it’s evolved into something else, maybe the new dreams mean something or they’re just a transition period as your mutation gets its shit together?” Hongjoong tried to explain himself as best he could, wanting Yunho to be reassured that there was no way he was going to leave him over something like this, he would never leave Yunho behind.

Yunho couldn’t reply, he was too worried about crying if he tried to. Hongjoong saw his quivering lip and instantly took to hugging his boyfriend once again, whispering sweet nothings in his ear as they sat there. They were surely missing a lesson right about now, Hongjoong recalled that he should be in maths at the moment, Yunho next door in computing. But that could wait; right now, all that mattered to Hongjoong was helping Yunho and making him happy once again. The younger’s smile was blinding and he wished to see it sooner rather than later.

At some point, the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson period and people began to mill about and make their way to their next class. Hongjoong couldn’t care less, but apparently Yunho had begun to get restless, always a lot more inclined to stick to the rules than his boyfriend was.

“We should really get going Joong-”

“No, Yunho, you stay right here mister.” Hongjoong chuckled and put his hands on Yunho’s shoulders, forcing him to sit down once again, which the younger did, looking at Hongjoong with his signature pout on his lips.

It didn’t stick around for long.

Yunho’s body suddenly crumpled forward, Hongjoong yelping loudly in shock as he steadied the younger and held him in his arms. Hongjoong had no idea what to do, looking around but everyone had already cleared off and Yunho wasn’t stirring.

A second later however, everything seemed to go back to normal. Yunho lifted his head and rubbed at his eyes, as if he had just woken up from a nap, staring at Hongjoong with his mouth hung open.

“Joongie, what just happened?”

“I have no idea, why do you expect me to know?”

“Oh my god!” Yunho screeched, recoiling away from his boyfriend until his back hit the end of the stone arch.

“Yunnie, you’re kinda scaring me right now, what’s going on?” Another surprised noise left Yunho’s lips, muttering something under his breath that kind of sounded to Hongjoong like a long string of curses.

“You! You’re what’s going on… In my head I- It was… You said-!” Yunho continued to ramble unintelligibly until Hongjoong realised he wasn’t getting a coherent answer like this and put his finger to his boyfriend’s lips. The younger flushed at that and sunk down a little in his seat, getting the message and cutting out the mumbling.

“When I passed out then, it was like I’d gone back into the dreams again. Except this time we were just having a conversation and then I woke up and had that exact conversation.” Yunho explained as simply as he could, Hongjoong could only nod along in complete disbelief but also curiosity at what he was hearing, spluttering when he realised that he should probably reply.

“So you’re saying it was a premonition? But like, not a scary one? A nice one?”

“Yes, I think so?”

Both boys looked at each other, equally confused at what had just happened. It wasn’t something they could just take lightly, Yunho’s mutation had literally just mutated in front of their very eyes. Whatever had happened a month ago had clearly changed everything, hopefully for the better.

“Oh! Here you are!”

A voice interrupted the chain of thought Hongjoong had found himself cycling through, head shooting up to meet Seonghwa’s gaze as he rushed over to the pair, sitting on the other side of Yunho. He seemed to be out of breath and sure enough the other five of their ragtag group soon caught up to them as well, all in various stages of worn-out.

“I can’t believe you had me run that far! Can’t you choose a hiding place that’s closer to the gym?” Wooyoung whined and clutched at his chest, dramatically flopping onto the floor and sticking his tongue out in Hongjoong and Yunho’s direction.

“Is everything okay with you guys?” Mingi asked once everyone was settled. Hongjoong and Yunho both gave a simple nod in reply, entwining their fingers together and squeezing each other’s hands gently. A sense of relief thrummed through Hongjoong, the boy knowing that it was coming from Yunho himself, his mutation having heightened out of sheer protectiveness over the younger. Along with that came another flood of emotions, happiness, warmth, belonging and an outpouring of love. It made Hongjoong’s heart sing in delight, it had been too long since he’d last felt his boyfriend experience any of those feelings.

And then that smile graced Yunho’s lips once more, Hongjoong knew nothing could ever be so bright. Even if nothing was quite back to normal just yet, Hongjoong had Yunho and his friends and that was all he could truly ask for.

  
  
  


“So what’s my horoscope for today then?” Hongjoong asked later as they settled down for dinner, the table in the back corner occupied by his seven best friends who were fighting over the last sachet of ketchup.

Yunho’s eye flitted up for a moment before scanning over the school newspaper with a grin and handing it over to Hongjoong so that the elder could read it for himself.

_Scorpio: Things that had once been cloudy and confusing will clear up today, make sure to seek out those you love to help and guide you, they will never leave your side!_

“I’m starting to think you’re the one writing these Jeong Yunho.” Hongjoong sniggered and rolled his eyes, handing the paper back over to Yunho who could only giggle in response.

And when Jongho emerged victorious with the ketchup and everyone began to eat, Hongjoong could feel the happiness in every one of them. He, finally, felt happy too.

**Author's Note:**

> here's my twitter :D : [@enbypiri](https://twitter.com/enbypiri)  
> 


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